Ghost’s Unholy Pilgrimage

Image: Brett Zimmerman / BackStage360

Ghost BC, or Ghost as it’s now known started it’s unholy pilgrimage in 2008 in the city of Linköping, located in the southern end of Sweden. “Where ideas come to life” being the motto of the city, can properly express their intent of conjuring up the super group that’s captured the attention of today’s metal world. With the claim to their new found reign, their going back to the more traditional style of black metal. Now Ghost isn’t exactly the heaviest of metal around, although it could be compared to early metal such as Black Sabbath or Pentagram, with some roots of 60’s psychedelic rock as well. In what it’s “lacking” musically speaking by today’s standards, it more than makes up for it with edgy lyrics, appearances and attitude.

Papa Emeritus is the mascot of Ghost, for lack of a better term. In 2008 Papa and his Nameless Ghouls came onto the Metal scene, displaying their “satanic” version of the Roman Catholic Church. Papa dresses with his version of the anti-pope with papal regalia, adorned with the band’s insignia on his Mitre. His nameless ghouls represent the five different alchemy elements. Fire which is lead guitar, Water being the bassist, Air their keyboardist, Earth is the drums, and finally Aether/Quintessence is the rhythm guitar. Each ghoul has their respected symbol on the right breast of their outfit.There has been a total of three Papas that’s held the position of power. The first singer held the seat from 2008 to 2012, The second followed in his footsteps from 2012 to 2015, and now the third and most current Papa just came out with his debut appearance earlier this year. It’s also said that Papa III is the younger sibling of Papa II by a total of three months. Each Papa is younger than the last, and brings a new source of energy to the equation. Ghost has gotten quite a lot of publicity in recent years due to their combination of silent film stage presence, and they way that they conduct their business off stage. They take their anonymity very seriously, keeping their identities secret to the general public, which only adds a bit of luster to their name. There’s been a few speculations as to who is in the band, but nothing conclusive yet. I hope it stays that way, it adds a bit of luster to the band.

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Image: Brett Zimmerman / BackStage360

I’ve recently seen this unholy event come to life, and it truly opened my eyes to the power that Papa and his Ghouls can have over a crowd. Their stage presence alone is mystifying and powerful. They only played five songs, due to the festival’s line up, nonetheless they put on an excellent show. “Year Zero” was one of my favorite songs of their setlist, which is a bit of a pun towards their former BC, “before christ” posted at the end of their name. Seeing them live was almost like attending church, with a very odd yet comforting feeling in my soul. Papa insists that the crowd has the best time possible, and that we’ve only one life and that we need to live it! They mostly played from their new album “Meliora,” with the songs “Circle,” “Absolution,” “From The Pinnacle To The Pit,” and “Mummy Dust.” With that album, each song is completely different from the last, almost like a play with different scenes that all come together and burn in flames, with a phoenix style resurrection.

Ghost seems to be growing with great haste, captivating new fans by the bulk. Some of their many achievements in recent years: Papa Emeritus II introducing Glenn Danzig, who has been the lead singer of Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig to the Golden Gods Award Ceremony of 2013. They’ve also had their first televised musical performance on the “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” that had aired on Halloween night of this year. They performed the song “Circle,” which was the first song that was released on their newest album, “Meliora.” They’ve also received their first golden album in Sweden, and have reached number 8 in the us charts with their new Meliora album. Ghost is a force not to be reckoned with, they seem to have a bright, or rather dark future ahead of them. I’m definitely looking forward to see what the future has in store for this band.